Amid stand-off between India and China, satellite images pick up Chinese armour, artillery near LAC: Report

A detailed analysis of satellite images has shown extensive deployment of towed artillery and mechanised elements on the Chinese side, bringing Indian deployments within striking distance, the Indian Express reported on Friday

According to the report, satellite images show the presence of 16 tanks with a mix of infantry combat vehicles, though camouflaged. Flatbed trucks, excavator machines, dumper trucks too have been identified in the imagery, sources said, adding that these suggest permanent defences are being prepared by the Chinese in the area.

The recent skirmishes between Indian and Chinese troops at the Sino-Indian border may not be as innocuous as some observers would like to make them out. In all likelihood, these are a reflection of the newly-hewn aggressive Chinese economic and military diplomacy which seeks to intimidate other nations into submission. The way China reacts angrily even to a mild hint that the coronavirus pandemic was China-born, which it really was, indicates an aggressive, nay offensive attitude. There are more compelling examples to endorse the view that China is power-drunk and beginning to behave like an international bully, a bad boy of global diplomacy. It seems China has given up all pretence to conduct diplomatic discourse in a civilised and well-mannered way.

The clashes between India and China stem not from the usual misunderstanding over the poorly drawn boundary, but may indicate something more sinister. Coupled with the almost synchronised noises emanating from Nepal Prime Minister K P Sharma Oli, who has invented a border dispute with India by publishing a brand new map, it is clear that China is out to keep India distracted from its real objective of growing its economy and to provide a decent welfare to its 1.3 billion people while remaining committed to a vibrant democracy. Oli, who owes his job to the Chinese Ambassador in Kathmandu, is a mere puppet, warning India of trouble if it built a road on its own side of the border. Till very recently, the area now claimed as its own through a new cartographic invention by Nepal was a duly recognised part of the Indian territory.